Hot Dogs!

We are certainly having a hot spell currently! It’s lovely to see the sun, but that sunshine comes with it’s own dangers and it can cause misery to many animals as well as to people.

For your dog’s health and well being please try and exercise them in the cooler parts of the day, utilise shaded areas and grass verges where ever possible and make sure water is readily available  for them to drink.

Greyhound in water

Splash!

Please also be very cautious about walking dogs on hot tarmac which can burn their feet and/or leave a sticky residue of tar and grit on or between their pads to in turn cause discomfort, sores or even upset tummies if licked off.

If you are traveling by car then please ensure you have plenty of water and a bowl for your dog at the least. An old towel to soak with water and drape over the dog is also a good idea. Air conditioning is lovely, but it has been known to fail and unexpected traffic jams in baking heat can catch many of us out. Don’t let your dog could become a victim of heatstroke through lack of forethought.

It’s critically important that you don’t leave your dog in a car, even with windows ajar. Heat kills and it’s a particularly unpleasant way to die too – prolonged suffering. Keep your dogs safe, leave them at home or take them with you when you leave your vehicle.

On a happier note, walking is still taking place daily at the kennels. We are lucky indeed to have direct access to woodland paths so that the dogs can enjoy shaded walks without risk of heat stroke.

A big thank you to our all weather dog walkers and volunteer staff too for their dedication to the dogs. Some drive, some cycle, but our staff and walkers still turn up in these heatwave conditions of around 30 degrees C right down to the freezing temperatures of winter when it’s has dropped to minus 10 degrees C at our kennels before.

The kennels themselves are very hot at times, there is little we can do about that apart from maximising ventilation and ensuring plenty of water is always available for the dogs. Many of the greyhounds are choosing to lay on the relatively cool concrete floors to stay more comfortable. That seems to work fairly well for them.

Homed Greyhounds:

Kai, Rory, Ebony and Faith have been homed.

Reserved Greyhounds:

Bella and Raquel are reserved.

Updated Greyhound Descriptions:

Many of our available greyhounds have had their descriptions updates as a result of further assessment and behavior work in conjunction with our professional behaviorists K9 Matters. Please take a fresh look at our Greyhounds Needing Homes Gallery. Perhaps we have the perfect pet for you?

Greyhounds in foster care:

Niki, Jet, Rosie and Poppy (previously Isla) are all in foster care. If one of our foster dogs interests you as a potential new family member then you simply need to call us and we’ll arrange a mutually convenient date and time for you to meet him/her.

Rosie black snowflakes

Rosie in her foster home.

Urgent Appeal for Items to Sell to raise funds:

With the fete and fair season well underway we are once again desperately short of things to sell to raise funds for support the greyhounds in our care.

Please have a look around your home, ask your friends and work colleagues too perhaps to see if there are any unwanted items around. We’d be happy to help re-home them.

We can collect from the Fleet, Hampshire and the Wokingham area in Berkshire, possibly other areas too by prior arrangement. Alternatively you could bring the items to our kennels between 11am and 1pm daily.

We are particularly keen to receive donations of children’s toys and games, toy cars, fishing equipment, war memorabilia, unwanted Christmas themed items, kitchen equipment, costume jewelery, DVD & CD’s (but not video tapes please), dog coats, toys and chews of all sizes and styles and anything else you can think of except clothing that could be saleable.

Ideally we are looking for items that can be transported easily by car. If you have larger items and wish to raise funds for us then you can always sell them on ebay (see the “fundraise for us using ebay” section below for more information).

Food Voucher – any offers?

Bran the greyhound recently won a £50 voucher to spend at Vets Food World and he has very kindly donated that voucher to Greyhound Lifeline so that we can raise some funds by offering it to whoever makes us the best offer. Thank you Bran for your generosity.

Please visit the Vets Food World website and see if there’s a food there that you might like to have for your pets (food available for many animals, not just dogs). If you make us the best offer we will advise you the activation code and the food can be delivered to your door free of charge. Two restrictions apply: The voucher is for one use only and your order must exceed £50 to be able to use the voucher.

Foster Home Appeal:

We need more foster homes. Ideally we are looking for foster homes within easy traveling distance of Fleet, Wokingham, Alton or Southampton as we have trusted volunteer team members in those areas who would be able to assist with viewings if a trip to the kennels was not possible.

We prefer foster carers who have some experience of dog ownership and training. Homes without cats and young children are especially sought because homes with young children and/or cats or inexperience dog handlers severely restrict our options of the greyhounds we could place with you.

If greyhound fostering is of interest to you then please visit our fostering information page to see if it could be the route for you.

Forthcoming Events:

Monday 26th August (Bank Holiday Monday) we’ll be at the Normandy Fete and dog show.

Sunday 8th September is the day of 1000 Sighthounds in Devon. For full information about this wonderful event please visit the 1000 sighthounds web site.

Don’t let Lungworm kill your dog!

Please be aware of Lungworm, it’s a killer that many of you won’t necessarily have heard of. It is spreading fast in the UK and many dogs have already died from it. Don’t panic however as Lungworm is very easy to prevent and equally if diagnosed early it can be treated very successfully too. Late diagnosis of Lungworm does not always have a happy ending however.

The following link will take you to a Lungworm Information site. For preventative treatment of lungworm you will need to contact your vet. Treatment/prevention of  Lungworm is by prescription medication only.

Fundraise for us using eBay

You can now sell items on ebay and choose to donate between 10% and 100% of your sale price to Greyhound Lifeline. If you are an ebay member you could also simply donate by using your Paypal account. For ebay members only please visit their Sell for Charity page and enter “Greyhound Lifeline” in the Charity name area.

If you are a UK tax payer please also tick the Gift Aid box. Please read ebay’s terms and conditions carefully as we cannot be held responsible for any problems you may encounter. Could you sell your unwanted items and help us to buy food, provide veterinary care and generally look after the greyhounds in our care at the same time?

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